Offshore platforms used in the recovery of oil from below the sea bed must be removed and appropriately disposed of when the oil wells serviced by the platform run dry. The platforms are anchored to the ocean floor by piles which are hollow casings or pipes driven into the sea bed. The platforms draw oil up through conductors which are made of several hollow casings of different diameters stacked within each other and extending to various depths below the sea bed. The casings of a conductor are sealed together with concrete grout. The law requires that when removing an offshore platform, both the piles and conductors must be cut twenty feet below the mud line so that no projections are left which could pose a navigational hazard.
Current methods for removing offshore platforms include the use of explosives and the use of mechanical cutters driven from the surface. However, explosives are harmful to the surrounding ecosystem and mechanical cutting devices require a large amount of power and sufficient structure to support heavy machinery. A need therefore exists for a way to remove offshore platforms that is ecologically sound and more efficient than currently available systems.